ROCKETS pounded the Jebaliya refugee camp while four more children were killed when a house was struck north of Gaza City as Israel stepped up its attacks.

TWENTY-FIVE people – including several children – died in Gaza yesterday as Israel stepped up its onslaught on the Palestinian territory.

The escalation on the fifth day of the crisis came after Hamas leaders of Gaza targeted Tel Aviv with deadly rockets for the fourth day.

It brought the total Palestinian death toll in the conflict to 71 as the crisis came closer and closer to all-out ground invasion.

Israeli equipment and troops, including tens of thousands of reservists, continued to mass near the border with Gaza.

And there were also reports that hundreds of militants had crossed into Gaza from Egypt in support of the Palestinian fighters.

Among the kids killed yesterday – aged one to seven – were a three-year-old girl and a five-year-old boy from the same family.

They died in an Israeli airstrike on their home in the Jebaliya refugee camp.

And four children were among 11 dead in a strike on a house north of Gaza City, which Israeli sources said was home to a top Palestinian rocket maker.

Five women, including one 80-year-old, were also killed when the two-storey house was reduced to rubble.

The Israeli military said they believed the house was home to the al-Dalou family and linked to militants.

An Israeli missile is launched from the Iron Dome defence missile system

Hamas said in a statement: “The massacre of the Dalou family will not pass without punishment.”

Hundreds of Palestinians have been injured in the conflict in which three Israelis have been killed and more than 50 wounded.

As the conflict edged towards a ground assault on Gaza, Israeli strikes also hit two media centres in the Palestinian city.

World leaders appealed for calm and US president Barack Obama warned the crisis will reach a critical point within days.

Obama said Israel had a right to defend itself but added that it would be “preferable” to avoid an Israeli ground offensive in Gaza.

He added: “There’s no country on earth that would tolerate missiles raining down on its citizens from outside its borders.

“We are fully supportive of Israel’s right to defend itself. If this can be accomplished without a ramping up of military activity in Gaza, that is preferable.

“That’s not just preferable for the people of Gaza, it’s also preferable for Israelis.”

But Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu warned: “We are exacting a heavy price from Hamas and the terrorist organisations and the Israel Defence Forces are prepared for a significant expansion of the operation.”

Israel has refused to enter into a truce without guarantees the rocket attacks on its towns and cities will be stopped immediately.